Let's Make Catalyst 2023 Happen!
Catalyst continues thanks to all the people who love it dearly and the many hands that pitch in at different levels. If you're interested in helping out in any capacity fill out the support form. You can contribute in any way to any capacity that suits you.
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We are currently recruiting for the 2023 Catalyst Team! Our goal is to have a group of folks who want to plan and carry out this coming year's Catalyst by January to begin onboarding. Applications will stay open until all spots are filled though.
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Read more about the Catalyst experience in Nicole White's blog post
What is it??Catalyst is a week-long summer program for young folks interested in becoming and growing as community organizers. If you're interested in creating change, building people power, and finding connections to young folks (our age range tends to be 15-30) across this land, this is for you.
We strive to create a youth-empowered space that is always growing in our actions to divorce white supremacy and settler colonial conditioning. A process that is never done but is the way forward in creating strong, healthy, and restorative communities on this land that is primarily Shawnee, Aniyunwiya (Tsalagi/Cherokee), Chickasaw, and Osage land, that is called Kentucky. |
Thank you so much to our supporters. Your donations help us to ensure people can access this resource. |
Being able to access this space is extremely important to us. Please reach out if you want to go but there are barriers. We have worked or offered in the past to provide gas, transportation, childcare, and wage stipends to folks. The program is offered at a “pay what you can” rate for all participants and the site is ADA compliant (we will provide participants of details on the space and programming to identify any needed accommodations).
What will I learn at Catalyst?

Workshops that have been included before are direct action, base building and mobilization, radical visioning, and campaign strategy, among others. We've had some amazing guest speakers (some of which also gave their time to Catalyst as trainers and directors). Some of our past speakers and mentors: organizers of #OUR444MILLION a campaign against a proposed 444-million prison facility in Letcher country (which ended up being a win!), REACT (go follow and stay informed), organizers of Fight Toxic Prisons, Mijente on their organizing for Sanctuary Ordinance in Louisville, Lexington's Food Not Bombs, and so many other amazing people.
Our goal is to create a space that doesn't foster a needless sense of urgency with time. At the same time allowing us to dive deep into this learning and give participants choice to maximize what they get out Catalyst. You can't learn everything about this work in seven days, mostly because it's a never ending process of learning and adjusting. But hopefully this will give some essential building blocks and a support system that empowers you in this work moving forward.
Progressive young people can often feel isolated in their communities, and building this statewide network through trainings delivered through a "Kentucky"-specific lens will break this isolation. Our hope is for participants to use the network formed at Catalyst to put roots here and fight for change for decades to come. The history on this land is rich with fighting oppression and creating strong communities despite the powers that tries to make it otherwise. We do this work because we know we're not disposable, this land is not disposable, and we only win when we learn and act collectively!
Our goal is to create a space that doesn't foster a needless sense of urgency with time. At the same time allowing us to dive deep into this learning and give participants choice to maximize what they get out Catalyst. You can't learn everything about this work in seven days, mostly because it's a never ending process of learning and adjusting. But hopefully this will give some essential building blocks and a support system that empowers you in this work moving forward.
Progressive young people can often feel isolated in their communities, and building this statewide network through trainings delivered through a "Kentucky"-specific lens will break this isolation. Our hope is for participants to use the network formed at Catalyst to put roots here and fight for change for decades to come. The history on this land is rich with fighting oppression and creating strong communities despite the powers that tries to make it otherwise. We do this work because we know we're not disposable, this land is not disposable, and we only win when we learn and act collectively!